Winter Reflections | News from the Mungo Mill
If you take a wander through the Old Nick Village grounds, there’s a spot where the trees hum with activity. Flashes of yellow. Weaver birds at work. In the run up to winter, we watch them building their nests. They are known to use only the freshest and best materials, and a masterful weave. They were here before us. Perhaps they’ll outlast us. But they’re a fitting kind of mascot for the Mungo Mill. For the place we call home.
In preparation for the cooling off, we too start nesting. Finding warmth in pattern and texture. The Double Cloth comes off the loom. A warm and weighty throw, with a unique weaving construction that differs the pattern on either side. A new run of Linen Scarves is brought to life on our Ruti looms. We weave the scarf in small batches, each carefully designed to make the most of the limited colours left in yarn storage. It’s our way of designing to minimise waste, whilst making something remarkable. Each fold of shimmery fabric bears a true selvedge, a special self-finished edge particular only to shuttle looms.
We find in the colder months, and especially when the rain pours, that our Plett store is full. People trickle into the mill next door. Winter (like any) is a good time to take a tour. We open our production doors because we believe in the value of bridging the gap between maker and consumer. Between product and process. To make better choices, one must first understand, learn, and witness. Today most of us keep a safe distance from how our goods are made – faceless production, products alchemized from obscurity into existence. We feel the call to resist the surge of newness, now and novelty that has characterised contemporary retail. And the cult of silence and disillusionment that sits alongside.
Which is why we stick with the values of old: craftsmanship and quality. Transparency. Longevity. Timelessness. We hope that the Mungo product in your hand adds beauty and ritual to your bathtime, or your home. Something to be used, treasured, loved. To bring comfort. To be handed down. To bring joy.
